Love Hina: Broken Man
by JustMikeG22
Summary: Keitaro Urashima had two girl friends when he was young. Both died five years ago. Now, he is left bitter and on a path of self-destruction, until his Granny Hina makes him manager of an all girls dorm. Can the girls fix a broken man? Kei/Motoko/Tsuruko
1. A Broken Man

**A/N: This is my first attempt at a Love Hina story. This story will be a darkfic. It's about love and loss. I don't have any expectations so if you give a bad review, I appreciate the honesty and hope you continue reading as I update it. I don't own Love Hina, just the plot of this story. This is the short prologue. The next chapter will surely be longer.**

**So on with the story!**

**(OOO)**

_Five Years ago…_

_The heart monitor was heard as Keitaro was sitting next to Kaede as she was lying in the hospital bed. He was holding her hand and tears were running down his face as Kaede was breathing heavily. _

_Kaede looked at Keitaro and smiled as she said softly when she saw his tears, "Don't worry, Keitaro. We're going to get married remember?"_

_Keitaro swallowed the lump in his throat and more tears fell from his eyes as he took a deep breath and said whispered, "Yeah. We're going to get married and…have…kids and live a long…happy life together…just…just…don't…" _

_The words were lost in his voice as Kaede softly touched his face to wipe away a tear and said with a smile still, "Don't worry Kei-kun, and don't cry. You know I'll always be in your heart, just like Rika is." _

_Keitaro closed his eyes as more tears fell faster and harder. Kaede continued as she said faintly, "Thank you for giving Rika and I your love, Keitaro," Kaede shed a few tears of her own as she continued, "and because of that love, I know we'll be together again, someday," Keitaro noticed Kaede was starting to close her eyes as she whispered her last words, "and the best part about it…is you can take it with you." _

_Keitaro felt her hand go limp as he saw her eyes close for the last time and her face fell to the side. _

_He looked up as he heard the heart monitor let out a long beep and saw that Kaede had flatlined._

_Finally, all that pain and sadness he held in the whole visit came pouring out as he leaned forward and wept over Kaede's still form. He was softly saying her name and was still holding her hand. _

_That was the day…Keitaro lost everything…_

_Present Day…_

Keitaro stood out in the rain looking down at the twin tombstones, his face, void of emotion, except for the single tear running down his cheek. After nearly twenty minutes, he turned and walked out of the cemetery with the same emotionless expression on his face.

He arrived home an hour later, ignoring his parents and headed for his room, where he stayed for the rest of the night.

(OOO)

A few days later, Keitaro had received a letter from his Granny Hina to stop by the Hinata Inn she owned to see her. Keitaro had his duffel bag with his belongings and his face remained stoic and sad as he walked up the steps.

He stopped for a moment and tears fell from his eyes as he looked at the building…the very building where he met Rika and Kaede. He wiped the tears away and his face went back to its stoic and sad expression as he continued his way to the Inn.

He opened the door and walked inside and looked around. He shouted, "GRANNY? GRANNY, YOU HERE? IT'S ME, KEITARO!"

Receiving no answer he muttered angrily to himself, "That old bat. I thought she wanted me to meet her here? Where the hell is she?"

He sat his bag down and pulled out some clothes and said obviously irritated, "Well, since I'm here, might as well take a dip in the hot springs.

He undressed in the changing room and made his way towards the water. He sat down in the hot water and relaxed. He shut his eyes and thought back to those two worst days of his life, the day Rika and Kaede died.

His eyes snapped open in anger. He then heard the sound of someone entering the springs and heard a woman's voice, "Ah, nothing like a dip in the springs to make a girl feel clean."

Keitaro was surprised but refused to move and remained quiet as he heard her get in the water. From what he could see, she had auburn hair and a nice body and was coming toward him.

This was when he started to feel uneasy. He then heard her say, "What are you doing all the way over there, Kitsune?"

Keitaro remained silent as she continued, "You were never embarrassed about your body before. I mean, I know my boobs aren't as big as yours, but I'm sure they're at least a decent size."

Keitaro shook his head in irritation but snapped his head in her direction when she said, "Hey, let's give yours a squeeze!"

She started walking towards him and he started backing away until she was too close and he jumped out right before she grabbed him and he ran to get his clothes from the changing room.

He shook his head really quick to try to get that scene out of his head and he said, "Man, I don't know who the hell that was, but that was definitely too close!" He grabbed his clothes and just as he turned around, he bumped into a sultry looking woman with short ashen hair and her body was wrapped in a towel.

As he was staring at her, he hadn't noticed his hand was groping her chest and her face was red. He let go with a blush and stepped back quickly as he realized he was groping her and he muttered, "Sorry."

He expected her to run away screaming but she just smiled and walked closer to him and said, "Haven't seen you around her before. Who are you?"

Keitaro was about to answer but stopped when he really noticed her and looked at her from head to toe. He finally spoke and said with a false happy tone, "I'm Keitaro Urashima. You haven't seen an old lady around here have you?"

Kitsune smiled and said as she pressed against him, "Why? You have a thing for old ladies? That's kinda kinky for a young guy like you."

Keitaro sighed and replied sarcastically, "Oh, yeah. I also had an orgy once with fifty hookers covered in peanut butter."

Kitsune giggled and was about to reply when a woman appeared from the doorway and said, "Kitsune, why did you run out on m-"

She stopped when she saw a young guy only in a towel standing next to Kitsune and her face contorted into anger and she shouted, "GET AWAY FROM HER YOU PERVERT!"

Keitaro still didn't know what was going on when he suddenly felt a fist hit his face and he flew through the wall and landed at the feet of a woman with a katana at her side and he looked up and noticed her expression kinda matched his own until she unsheathed her sword and as he stood up with no emotion on his face, she raised her sword and said, "YOU VILE MALE! YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED HERE!" She then jumped and shouted, "ROCK-SPLITTING SWORD!"

He was sent flying out of the building, through the wall and landed on his back near the steps at the entrance right next to a woman with short hair and a cigarette hanging from her mouth. Keitaro didn't move even when he said sadly, "Hello, Haruka."

Haruka lit her cigarette with her face remaining stoic as she replied, "Hello, Keitaro."


	2. The New Manager

**A/N: This is the first chapter of Love Hina: Broken Man. As I promised this chapter is slightly longer so I hope you enjoy. Also, as I said before, any bad reviews are welcome. I appreciate the honesty. Anyway, here we go…**

**(ooo)**

Haruka blew out a puff of smoke as Keitaro slowly took his time getting up. Haruka helped dust him off and said, "Glad to see you're making new friends."

Keitaro looked at her and said, "Yeah, they sure know how to make a guy feel welcome. What's their problem anyway?"

Haruka and Keitaro started their way to the Inn as Haruka replied, "You apparently." Keitaro shook his head and sighed as they made it to the entrance of the Inn.

The girls were talking amongst each other when the front door opened and revealed Haruka and Keitaro. When the girls noticed him, Naru pointed at him and yelled, "I THOUGHT WE TOLD YOU TO LEAVE, PERVERT?"

Motoko unsheathed her sword and aimed it at Keitaro and said, "Leave now or I will end you're vile existence, lecherous male!"

Haruka lit another smoke and watched on with her always unreadable expression while Keitaro just laughed bitterly at the girls' antics and then gave them a hard stare and said with venom, "Then what are you waiting for?"

Kitsune, the resident party girl, couldn't believe the balls on this guy for standing up to Motoko and Naru the way he was. Koalla Su, the resident mad scientist and genius watched on while eating a banana.

Shinobu Maehara, the resident cook, had tears in her eyes as she looked on, since she didn't really like violence.

Out of all the girls, Motoko Aoyama, the resident swordswoman and Naru Narusegawa, the resident bookworm, were the most surprised since nobody had stood up to either of them before.

Motoko stated with a glare directed at Keitaro, "What did you say, vile male?" Keitaro glared back at her and said in a mocking voice, "I said what are you waiting for, _vile woman_?"

Things could have become worse if Haruka hadn't interfered and said, "This is my nephew, Keitaro."

All of the girls froze at the revelation. Haruka never mentioned a nephew to them before. She then finally turned to Keitaro and handed him an envelope, "Here, Keitaro. Granny Hina wanted me to give this to you when you showed up."

As he grabbed the letter, nobody but Kitsune noticed the scar on his wrist. Motoko, on the other hand, noticed the really dark aura Keitaro had. She didn't really notice at first since she'd attacked him when he first arrived, _'This is strange. This male has such a dark aura. I have only seen an aura like this in someone who is in deep despair. I wonder what could've caused it?'_

As she was contemplating this, Keitaro was reading the letter Haruka had given to him. His eyes narrowed in anger as he read on:

_My dearest Keitaro, _

_I'm sorry I couldn't be there when I told you I would, but I've decided to travel the world. But the reason I invited you to the Hinata Sou was tell you I've decided to give you ownership of the Inn. You are now the new manager. You should already know that I've converted the Inn to an all girls dormitory, which should explain why you've only run into girls. I know you've been in a bad way after what happened five years ago. It hurts me to see my only grandson in such pain and despair. _

_I've thought long and hard about this and came to the conclusion that maybe this is what you need. I'm only doing this because I love you, my grandson. I want to see you happy again. I want you to open up your heart and deal with the pain I know you've been holding in for so long. Maybe you can try for Tokyo University again. You've always had the brains for it and I hated it when you stopped trying and gave up. You had near the highest scores on your tests, remember? You may even be able to study with young Naru Narusegawa, who is also trying for Tokyo University. _

_It's time you live again, my grandson. I don't want to see you in pain anymore. It's time to put those bad memories in the past and make some new good ones. This is the place to do it. Remember to open your heart, my grandson. You won't go wrong, I promise._

_With all my love, _

_Granny Hina_

Keitaro felt anger and rage boil to the surface and crumbled up the letter and threw it into a trashcan and said with hate as he grabbed his bag, "Who the hell does she think she is, messing with my life like this? I don't need any of this. I don't _want _any of this." He turned to leave and stopped when he felt a gentle touch on his shoulder.

He looked and saw that Haruka was gently touching his shoulder and he asked her sullenly, "Did you know about this?"

Haruka nodded and replied softly, "Granny Hina told me all about it before she left. I know the last five years were hard for you, but I think Granny's right. Maybe this is exactly what you need."

Keitaro sighed and said sullenly with a slight bit of venom, "You have no idea how hard it was for me." Haruka shook her head and looked at the girls, who watched the whole thing and said, "Listen up girls. Keitaro is now the new manager of Hinata Sou and if you have any problem with that, you deal with it yourselves." She then turned to Shinobu, "Shinobu, show Keitaro to his room."

With that, Haruka walked back to her teahouse, leaving Keitaro alone with the other girls. He looked at them and noticed Naru and Motoko were glaring at him and Shinobu shyly stepped forward and said, "I'll show you to your room. Follow me."

Keitaro gave a quick glare to Motoko and Naru and followed Shinobu to his room. Naru turned to Motoko, Kitsune and Su and said, "I can't believe Granny Hina made that guy the manager of this place!"

Motoko nodded and said, "I agree. A male cannot be the manager of an all girls dormitory." Su said with a smile and a gleam in her eyes, "He looks like fun to play with! I want to test out my new inventions on Keitaros!" She jumped excitedly and ran with amazing speed to her room to get some inventions ready to test.

Kitsune smiled and said, "I think it would be entertaining having a man in the dorm. I think he'll be fun to tease, especially since he already saw you naked, Naru."

Naru blushed and said angrily, "Get your mind out of the gutter, Kitsune! That male is not staying here! I don't care if he's manager or not!"

With that, Naru turned and followed after Shinobu and Keitaro with Motoko and Kitsune following behind.

_Manager's Room…_

Keitaro walked in the room while Shinobu stood in the hallway with a smile and a blush. He sat his bag down and took a look around the room and said, "Well, it's not exactly the American Ritz, but I guess it'll do." He then looked up to the ceiling and noticed a hole and asked, "Hey Shinobu? What's with this hole here?"

He looked back at her and she said, "That's the hole Granny Hina and Narusegawa used to talk to each other."

Keitaro looked back up at the hole and shook his head, "Sounds kinda stupid to me." He sighed and began to unpack his bag and looked back to Shinobu and said quietly, "Thanks for showing me my room, Shinobu."

Shinobu blushed and bowed and said quickly, "You're welcome, Sempai. I hope you enjoy your stay." She turned and quickly left.

He shook his head and went back to unpacking his bag. He sat at the desk on the far side of the room and pulled out some clothes.

Once he reached the bottom, he slowly pulled out a picture and instantly began to tear up. The picture was of Him, Rika and Kaede. He was in the middle and Rika and Kaede were on either side of him and were kissing him on his cheeks.

He tried to hold in the sorrow that was heading the surface and failed as he began to sob uncontrollably with one hand covering his eyes as he bent over and the other hand held the picture. Tears began to fall on the glass.

_Outside the Manager's Room…_

Naru, Motoko and Kitsune were near the Manager's room, but stopped when they heard the sound of sobbing. Thinking it was Shinobu, Naru and Motoko ran inside ready to assault that male who was hurting Shinobu, but were surprised when they saw it was their manager who was sobbing.

Kitsune peeked inside and put her hand to her mouth when she saw what was happening. The girls further noticed that Keitaro was holding a picture and when they saw him put the picture to his chest and hold it like his life depended on it, Naru and Motoko thought twice about attacking him and slowly backed out of the room and silently closed the door.

(OOO)

Keitaro awoke to the sound of a light knocking on his door. He raised his hand scratched the back of his head in confusion, _'I don't remember closing that door.'_

He slowly got up and opened the door and saw it was a smiling Shinobu and she said, "I didn't mean to wake you but I thought you should know dinner's ready."

Her smile faltered when she noticed his red eyes like he had been crying. Keitaro nodded and said, "Thank you Shinobu. I'll be right down."

She smiled again and bowed and left. Keitaro walked to the bathroom and washed his face before heading down to dinner.

_Kitchen…_

The residents sat around the kitchen table while Shinobu sat out the food. They were talking with each other until they saw Keitaro walk in and sit down at the far end of the table. The others watched Keitaro in silence until Shinobu sat out the last of the food.

Eventually, the residents started to talk to each other again while Keitaro ate his food without talking to anyone.

_Common Room…_

After dinner, everyone went their separate ways except for Kitsune, who sat on the couch in the common room and watched the horse races she usually bet on, while drinking sake.

She heard a sound nearby and looked around until she saw Keitaro entering the room with a bottle of his own sake. She smiled slyly and got up from the couch and approached him.

He stopped when he noticed she was walking towards him with a sly look on her face. He rolled his eyes when she said, "Hey, sugah. Where are ya' headin' off to?"

Keitaro simply replied, "My room." Next thing he knew, she wrapped her arms around his neck and asked in a sultry voice, "Want some company?"

_Manager's Room…_

Motoko snuck into Keitaro's room and looked around. It had been bothering her why that pathetic excuse of a manager would be crying over a picture, so she snuck into his room to see this picture he had such an emotional attachment to.

She looked everywhere and had no such luck until she noticed the frame of the picture sticking out of his bag on the floor by the desk and she walked over to it.

She looked around to make sure nobody was coming and she carefully pulled the picture out of the bag. She sat in the chair in front of the desk and looked at the picture. She saw Keitaro with two girls who looked like twins kissing his cheeks. One of the twins had mid-length dark blue hair and the other had long light purple hair with glasses. Both girls were absolute beauties as well.

As Motoko examined the picture more she noticed words on the bottom of the photograph that said, _"To our Keitaro. Now our memory will always find you. Love, Rika and Kaede Ichiro."_

Motoko looked up from the picture and thought, _'Is this what that male was upset about?' _She was snapped out of her thought at the sound of a sake bottle shattering on the floor near the door.

She looked over and noticed Keitaro with a scowl on his face and she noticed his aura had changed from dark despair to fiery red rage and anger.

He looked at her and then down to the picture she held and then back to her again and said with malice, "Who the hell do you think you are coming into my room like this and going through my things like privacy doesn't matter around here?"

Motoko, who was suddenly nervous, asked, "Um, w-who are these girls?" She held up the picture to him. Keitaro stomped over to her and snatched the picture away and said, "That's none of yours or anyone else's business!"

He gently placed the picture back in his bag and zipped it up. He turned back to her and said with anger, "If you ever come into my room without permission and look through my things again, I will throw you out of her so fast you won't even know what hit you. Do you understand me?"

Motoko narrowed her eyes and asked, "What did you say, Urashima?" Keitaro clenched his fists and said, "You heard me, _Aoyama_."

She unsheathed her sword and asked with anger, "Are you threatening me?" Keitaro shook his head and said, "It's a promise, now leave." He pointed toward the door with his index finger and Motoko refused to move.

Just before anything escalated, Su came bouncing in with what looked like a bazooka and aimed at Keitaro. He turned as she shouted, "HIYA'S KEITARO! LOOK A THIS!"

Once he saw the big bazooka, he grinned evilly and turned to face her and said, "Let it rip, Su." At the same time he thought, _'Maybe this will end my pain and be with Rika and Kaede again.' _

**BOOM! **Su shot the bazooka and a round slammed into Keitaro slamming him through the wall and flying out of the Inn completely and over the steps completely and landing in the front of the teahouse. He sat up and dusted off the soot and said, "Me and my big mouth. Damn immortality."

He looked up and noticed he was at the teahouse and decided to go in and see his aunt. They needed to talk.


	3. A Violent Affliction

**A/N: Here's the short second chapter to my story. As before, your honesty is appreciated. Here we go…**

Keitaro stepped into the Teahouse to see his Aunt Haruka. She was tending to a customer when she saw him come in and signaled him that she'll see him in a minute.

He sat down in one of the booths and waited for Haruka to see him. While he was waiting, he had one elbow on the table and his head rested in his hand and he thought sadly, _'How am I supposed to get through all of this? This isn't the way my life was supposed to be! My life was supposed to be full of happiness and joy and dreams…not sadness and death and despair. W-why *sniff* did things h-have t-t-to be *sniff* like…like this?' _

The more Keitaro thought about it, the more despair he felt. Just has Haruka walked over to him Keitaro clenched a fist and slammed it down onto the table, hard enough to make everyone look at him startled and surprised.

**FWAP! **Haruka used her fan to hit Keitaro on the head. He put a hand on his sore spot and asked angrily, "What the hell was that for, Aunt Haruka?" **FWAP! **She hit him again and put her fan away and said, "It's Haruka and you're scaring my customers." She then softly put a hand on his shoulder and asked, "Are you okay, Keitaro?"

He turned to her and her usual stoic expression was replaced with a sad look when he saw the fresh tears escaping Keitaro's eyes.

Keitaro sighed and finally spoke angrily, "I think Granny made a mistake, Haruka. Making me manager of an all girls dorm? I mean, sure it does sound like any man's dream come true, but let's face reality. A guy would have to be crazy to even think about living in let alone run that place. Especially with those idiots in there! And that Motoko is too damn nosey!"

When Keitaro finally finished his rant, Haruka asked, "Are you done?" Keitaro nodded and Haruka continued, "You haven't even been here a day and already you want to leave? Man up and give them a chance. Now go. I have customers to attend to."

Keitaro got up and made his way back to the Inn, but not before muttering, "Thanks for nothing, Aunt Haruka." **CRASH!** Keitaro was seeing stars as a plate hit him in the back of the head and he fell to the ground out cold.

**(OOO)**

Keitaro entered the Inn moments later only to see the girls in the common room with worried expressions on their faces. He stood in front of them with a smug look on his face and he grinned and asked, "What's with those pathetic looks on your faces? You have your periods early or something? Or is it the fact that you haven't got rid of me yet?"

Naru and Motoko's worried looks were immediately replaced with looks of anger and they both stood up at the same time and Motoko unsheathed her sword and she said, "How dare you speak that way in front of the younger children, Urashima!"

Naru, meanwhile, was clenching her fists together and she said, "How do you know what periods even are, you pervert!"

Keitaro stood his ground unwavering with the same look on his face and the pervert patrol would have attacked him if Kitsune hadn't intervened and said, "Motoko's big sister Tsuruko is coming here tomorrow afternoon. From what Motoko told us about her, she's the pure definition of a crazy samurai!"

Keitaro laughed lightly and shook his head and said sarcastically, "Right and I'm the Emperor's wife." Motoko narrowed her eyes and threatened, "If you keep it up, you will be someone's wife, Urashima."

He just closed his eyes and shook his head and walked by the girls toward the kitchen while saying passively, "Whatever. I've got work to do."

**(000)**

Keitaro managed to find the storage room and began working on the nearly destroyed Inn at the hands of the pervert patrol and his own body.

He grabbed some lumber and a hammer and nails and began repairing the walls with the Keitaro-shaped holes in them. He was working so hard on the holes, he hadn't noticed the girls the entire time until the last nail was hammered into the last repaired hole.

It was in the late evening now and Keitaro was in the bathroom with the sink water running and his shirt was off. He was leaning over the sink while deep in thought,_ 'Rika? Kaede? What would you want me to do now? Why can't I let go of you two? Was there some stupid reason you two died on me? Why did you have to go? The Kami must really hate me up there. That's fine I guess. I really hate him too!"_

He was snapped out of his thoughts by sounds coming from the roof. He put on a fresh clean shirt and went to investigate. He made his way to the roof and saw that Motoko was on the roof practicing her katas.

He smiled as he watched her for a moment until she suddenly stopped and said, "I don't wish to have an audience while I practice, Urashima."

Keitaro approached her and said with a chuckle, "I really don't care what you wish, Aoyama. Besides, I'm not really interested in watching you swing a stick around anyway. It's boring."

Motoko quickly turned to face him and gave him a glare and said angrily, "It's not a stick, it's a bokken. It's a practice sword, Urashima!"

He shook his head and replied as he finally stood in front of her with his arms crossed, "It looks like a stick to me."

She growled and pointed her bokken at him and said, "If you don't be quiet, Urashima, you will regret it, I promise."

Keitaro smirked and said, "You don't scare me, Aoyama. And I highly doubt you can make me regret anything I do at this point."

Motoko finally lost her temper and shouted, "THAT'S IT!" She raised her bokken and was about to unleash a ki technique on Keitaro when he did something she couldn't believe.

He caught her bokken in between his palms before she could finish and she went wide-eyed as Keitaro quickly hit the bokken out her hands and it flipped several times in the air until he caught it in one hand as it came down.

Motoko was frozen by what she just witnessed. How could this perverted baka disarm her and take away her bokken?

Keitaro smirked as he circled her while examining the bokken and said, "Wow. You are quite a warrior. In less than five seconds, your opponent blocked and disarmed you. Not only that," She slowly looked back at him after snapping out of her stupor and he finished by holding out her bokken to her and said, "your bokken is too heavy. If you want to show your full strength, get a lighter one."

She took it from him and he began to walk back inside when she called out, "Urashima!" He looked back at her and saw a small smirk on her face as she said, "You and me duel right now."

Keitaro chuckled and said, "Are you kidding me?" She glared at him and said, "Yes. You and me duel right now. If I win you resign as manager and leave. But if by some miracle you win, you can stay."

He grinned and shrugged his shoulders, "Why not? I could use the exercise anyway." She through him another bokken as he continued, "But I must warn you. I've only practiced this for a few years. So don't expect much."

She grinned wildly and said, "I won't." She then charged after him and the fight was on.

**A/N: This is a short chapter until the next one. The next one will be longer. I promise. Until next time…**


	4. A Violent Affliction: Part II

**A/N: You all pretty much know what I'm going to say so I won't say it again. This is a slightly longer is a reference to the videogame 'Prototype' as well, so if you have a problem with it, tell me in your review. I appreciate the honesty…oops! I said it again *clears throat* On with the show…**

**(OOO)**

**CLANK! **That sound filled the night air as the two warriors battled on the roof of Hinata Sou. Keitaro and Motoko circled each other, never taking their eyes off the other.

Motoko had an evil toothy grin as did Keitaro. Motoko charged again and her bokken was raised, ready to strike, but was easily blocked by Keitaro who raised his bokken and stopped the incoming strike and he quickly swung his bokken and hit Motoko in the back, knocking her right past him.

Motoko quickly recovered and faced him wide-eyed. _'How could he strike me?' _she thought. Keitaro smirked and said, "I thought you were a great warrior, Motoko." His smirk gave way to a glare and he yelled as he charged her, "FIGHT ME!" Motoko barely managed to block the strike that followed and she quickly rolled away and blocked another strike that was aimed for her head.

While she was on the defense, she noticed as she checked his aura, _'what the hell? He's actually trying to kill me! His aura is showing homicidal tendencies! Why is he trying to kill me? I won't let him succeed!' _Her face went from surprise to angry determination as she finally gained advantage and began to push Keitaro back.

Keitaro was thinking, _'what the hell is she waiting for! Why doesn't she go ahead and finish me?' _**CLANK! **Bokken struck bokken again and both held their ground with fierce determination. Keitaro, with a fierce glare at Motoko asked, "What are you waiting for, Aoyama? How are you supposed to be a good warrior when you can't kill someone who's trying to kill you?" He gritted his teeth and yelled out, "NOW FINISH ME!"

He tried to swing for her head again, but Motoko saw it coming and ducked before giving him a powerful kick that sent him flying back toward roof entrance and instead of hitting the door, Keitaro hit the wall with such force, pieces of the wall itself fell around him. When he hit the ground, there was a Keitaro shaped indention from where he impacted the wall.

Motoko slowly walked toward him as he began to slowly sit up and looked at her with a malicious grin and he said, "Now that's what I'm talking about! But you're going to have to do BETTER THAN THAT!" He got to his feet quickly. This time he raised his bokken and shouted, "CRITICAL PAIN!"

He pointed his bokken at Motoko and she was caught by surprise as a powerful burst of energy shot from Keitaro and she couldn't evade in time and was sent flying toward the other side of the roof. It was so powerful; Motoko went all the way through the wall and into her own room.

Motoko slowly got to her hands and knees and coughed up a good amount of blood. She looked up and gripped her bokken when she noticed Keitaro walking towards her.

He stepped in with his bokken over his shoulder and said emotionlessly, "Look at you. It's pathetic. It's too bad really. I was hoping you would finish me first, but I guess you're just not good enough."

He gripped his bokken with both hands and raised it above his head, ready to finish her off. But he froze when he noticed Motoko was changing form.

Her hair started to turn a dark blue and it shortened to just above her shoulders. Her face and even her clothes changed until the apparition rose to her feet and Keitaro slowly lowered his bokken and whispered, "Rika?"

He noticed she was sending off a glow of light blue around her. Rika looked at him and smiled sadly with a tear in her eye. He whispered her name again when he noticed her look, "Rika?"

He dropped his bokken and she was suddenly engulfed in the blue light and Keitaro was about to call her name when the blue light hit him and he was sent flying back out onto the roof and slid forcefully to the other side, damaging the roof itself.

Keitaro slammed into the wall again and this time, didn't get back up. Keitaro was out cold.

Motoko watched as Keitaro raised his bokken and he froze. She watched with confusion when she noticed he was in some sort of trance.

Taking advantage from his obvious hallucination, she slowly stood and with a glare. He then furthered her curiosity when she heard him whisper, "Rika?" and sent her most powerful attack toward him, "ROCK-SPLITTING SWORD!"

The blast sent Keitaro back out onto the roof, slamming onto it and sliding to the other side before hitting the wall on the far end. Motoko let out a let out a shaky breath before collapsing to the floor and passing out.

The other tenants as well as Haruka came rushing out to the roof and noticed that most of the area had been destroyed. They looked to their right and noticed Keitaro lying unconscious with rubble lying around him.

Haruka went over to check on him and the others noticed a hole in the wall on the other end of the roof and knew it was Motoko's room they raced over and noticed Motoko passed out and had various cuts as well the blood dripping from her mouth.

Kitsune shook her head slowly and asked, "I wonder what happened here?"

Upon further examination, the girls noticed a small puddle of blood right next to Motoko. Naru kneeled down next to Motoko and said, "It was probably that pervert's fault. Didn't you see him out there, Kitsune? He looked banged up too."

Shinobu replied timidly with a blush, "I didn't think Sempai could hurt Motoko like that. I mean, he doesn't look as banged up as she does."

Suu, clueless as ever, replied energetically, "YAY! NOW I CAN PLAY WITH KEITARO NOW THAT MOTOKO IS DONE PLAYING WITH HIM!"

She raced off in a blur to get some of her inventions to test on Keitaro. Shinobu ran after her saying she should wait until tomorrow or when he feels better.

Naru and Kitsune looked at each other and shook their heads and looked back to Motoko. Naru said, "We should get her cleaned up."

They picked her up and headed for the hot springs.

Haruka, meanwhile, was checking on her nephew. She had a pretty good idea what transpired on that roof, but insisted on worrying about it later. She shook her head and said softly, "Why can't you just let it go, Keitaro? Why do you have to make everybody miserable?"

She picked him up and dragged him inside.

**(000)**

_Six years ago…_

_Keitaro, Rika and Kaede were sitting around the campfire under the stars. Kaede looked at Rika and they both smiled slyly at each other and looked at an unsuspecting Keitaro, who was roasting some marshmallows for them. _

_As he was roasting the marshmallows, Keitaro had the strange feeling as if somebody was sitting next to him. He looked up and noticed both Rika and Kaede were sitting very closely on either side of him. _

_Keitaro sweat dropped and asked nervously, "I-is s-something wrong, ladies?" Kaede put a hand on his thigh and began to rub slowly and replied, "Nothing's wrong, Kei-kun." Then Keitaro felt Rika put a hand on his other thigh and began rubbing slowly and she said, "Yeah, we just wanted you to know how much we love you, Kei-kun."_

_Suddenly, the marshmallows Keitaro was roasting all burst into flames as he sat motionless and shocked by the girls' actions and words. _

_Then, Kaede grabbed him and pulled him into a very passionate kiss, tongue and all. After they came up for air, Rika also pulled him into a passionate kiss. _

_When they could breath again, Rika and Kaede exchanged sly smiles while Keitaro was in a trance after the kisses. They both grabbed one of his hands and slowly stood up and pulled him toward their tent. _

_They pulled him inside and Keitaro lost his virginity to both girls that night. _

_Suddenly everything went white and Keitaro was standing in nothingness. He looked around and asked, "Where am I? Am I finally dead? This isn't what I was expecting. Where am I?"_

_He froze when he heard the voices he never thought he'd hear again. First, he heard Kaede say, "Remember that night, Kei-kun? You were so sweet back then. What happened to the Kei-kun we knew?" _

_His heart was beating faster and he was gasping for breath when he heard Rika speak next, "Is that how you treat our memory, Kei-kun, with anger and hatred? Do you truly hate us that much now?_

_Keitaro waved his hands frantically and said quickly, "NO! NO! I COULD NEVER HATE YOU!"_

_Kaede then asked sadly, "Then, why do you harm yourself and others without regard for the consequences?" _

_Keitaro lowered his head and fell to his knees and said sadly, "Because it hurts too much. I hate being alive without you guys. I just want to be with you again."_

_Rika shook her head and said softly, "It's not your time, Kei-kun. You have to live your life." _

_Keitaro gritted his teeth in anger and finally shouted, "DON'T YOU GET IT? YOU GUYS WERE MY LIFE! I'LL NEVER BE HAPPY AGAIN!"_

**(000)**

Keitaro shot up from his futon and immediately regretted it when his head started throbbing and pain shot through his chest.

Haruka pushed Keitaro back down and said, "Don't move. You got pretty banged up in the fight." Keitaro looked at her curiously as she continued, "Of all people, you had to fight Motoko? Why did you try to kill her? I could feel your aura from the teahouse. Are you an idiot, Keitaro?"

Keitaro sighed and said, "I just wanted to see how good she was, that's all. Besides, she's the one who asked for it. She challenged me and I delivered."

Haruka shook her head and replied, "You have to stop pushing people like that, Keitaro. You nearly killed Motoko and yourself tonight. What's happened to you?"

Keitaro sighed and slowly sat up while holding his ribs and replied bitterly, "You know what happened, Haruka." She smacked him in the back of his head and he groaned as she said angrily, "You need to let it go! It's been five years, Keitaro! Just let it go!"

Keitaro's head snapped up and he had tears in his eyes when he started yelling, "I CAN'T LET IT GO, HARUKA! I CAN'T! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT FEELS LIKE FOR ME, TO GO ON EVERY SINGLE DAY! WAKING UP EVERY MORNING HOPING TO SEE THE PEOPLE YOU KNOW AREN'T THERE ANYMORE!"

Haruka was very surprised by this outburst, but listened as Keitaro continued, "WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO, HUH? WALK AROUND AND ACT LIKE I'M HAPPY WHEN I'M NOT? AM I SUPPOSED TO PUT ON SOME PATHETIC ACT OF HAPPINESS WHEN IT'S JUST A FARCE?"

He finally began to lose his intensity and spoke in a neutral tone, "I saw her, Haruka." She looked confused when he locked eyes with her and he verified, "I saw Rika."

Haruka narrowed her eyes in curiosity and asked, "When?" Keitaro looked in her eyes and said, "When I fought Motoko. I was about to do more damage to her when she changed into Rika. She had tears in her eyes and smiled sadly for some reason. Then, she started glowing and was engulfed in a blue light and it hit me and I hit the wall and blacked out. Then, I had a flashback of the camping trip I took with Rika and Kaede. Finally, I heard Rika and Kaede both accuse me of hating them. I never hated them. I just…I just wanted to…"

Haruka had heard enough and pulled him into a tight hug when he started to sob. She knew he wanted to let go but couldn't. She just wanted him to stop trying to hurt himself and others.

She still had him in a hug as she turned to face the door when she heard a sound from the hallway.


	5. A Violent Affliction: Conclusion

**A/N: Hello. I apologize for the very very long wait. I suffered a little writer's block for a while. Anyway, here is the next chapter. As I said before, honesty is appreciated.**

**Here we go…**

**(000)**

Motoko slowly opened her eyes and sat up. She immediately regretted it when the pain hit her and she groaned. She thought, _'Did I win? Yes, I defeated Urashima. Now I must go to see him out.' _She got up and as she slowly limped for the door, she grabbed her sword and proceeded towards the manager's room.

As she neared the manager's room, she could hear Haruka talking from behind the closed door, "You have to stop pushing people like that, Keitaro. You nearly killed Motoko tonight. What's happened to you?" Motoko heard Keitaro's reply and he sounded angry.

She then heard Haruka's angry response and then jumped a little when Keitaro started yelling. She was about to burst in with her hand on the hilt of her sword but froze when she heard Keitaro's next comment, "I saw her, Haruka. I saw Rika."

Motoko thought for a moment on how that name sounded so familiar when she realized and her eyes widened, _'The picture!'_

She leaned back against the wall and accidentally caused a loose board to squeak. She gasped and limped as fast as she could back to her room.

**(000)**

Motoko managed to get to her room unseen and slid the door shut. She had just learned a little bit about Keitaro's past and one of the girls in the picture. She thought, _'I wonder what happened to those girls?'_

Motoko was interrupted from her thoughts by a rapping at her door. She replied, "Enter." The door slid open revealing Haruka. The elder Urashima, with her stoic face and cigarette hanging from her mouth, asked, "How are you feeling, Motoko?"

The girl in question sighed and said, "I am fine, Haruka-san. I was trained to withstand pain."

Haruka then smiled and asked, "Were you trained in eavesdropping too?" Motoko blushed and frantically said, "It was not my intention at first, I promise. My intent was to throw Urashima out since I won the duel."

A voice in the doorway interrupted them, "I highly doubt that. You look like shit and I heal faster than you."

Motoko and Haruka looked in the doorway to see Keitaro leaning against the frame, smirking at the sight as he continued, "Besides, you couldn't throw me out if you tried, not in the state you're in."

Motoko glared at Keitaro and staggered to her feet, wincing in pain as she did and raised her bokken at him, even if she found it difficult to do while in so much pain.

Keitaro chuckled at the sight and shook his head and walked toward her and said, "Put that down before you hurt yourself."

Motoko continued to glare at him and said with malice, "The agreement was if I won you would leave and I won so leave now!"

Keitaro only chuckled at this and asked, "You didn't really expect me to really leave this place did you? It's too much fun to just up and leave. Besides,"

He stopped right in front of her and finished, "my grandmother gave me the responsibility to manage this place, and I'm going to manage it, whether you like it or not. You're stuck with me, kendo girl."

At this, Motoko clenched her teeth as Keitaro walked away and she asked with venom in her voice, "Have you no honor, Urashima?"

He froze as he was near the door to the roof and he turned to her with a glare of his own and marched back to her and stopped when he was just inches from her face and he said with anger in his voice, "What the hell do you know about honor anyway, Motoko? Your idea of honor is to attack an innocent who's done nothing to you before tonight! So you are the last person to ever talk to me about honor, considering how tainted yours is."

She went from wide eyed to shame then to anger as he finally finished, "So unless you have anything 'smart' to say, you may want to keep your mouth shut about honor, kendo girl."

Amidst their arguing, Keitaro nor Motoko noticed Haruka head back inside and to the teahouse.

Meanwhile, Keitaro's words had hit Motoko harder than any punch or strike with a wooden sword could. All Motoko saw after that was red and she screamed as she raised her bokken and ran at Keitaro.

He might have been an okay fighter, but Keitaro was no match for an angry swordswoman who's trained longer than him. He may have managed to avoid the first swing at his head, but he never saw the bokken come back at him from behind and he was struck in his lower back, causing him to fly through her wall and back out onto the roof.

He groaned in pain as he struggled to his feet but Motoko's rage got the best of her and she swung at him again hard and connected with Keitaro's abdomen which forced Keitaro to immediately cough up a decent amount of blood as it flew from his mouth and splattered on the surface of the roof.

Motoko's eyes were burning with fresh tears as she swung again and struck Keitaro, who was on his hands and knees, in the back and he was now laid out on the roof.

He struggled to get up again and was rewarded with another strike to his back and was once again laid out.

Motoko was still blinded by her rage but also despair and she continued her assault as Keitaro struggled to get up again and she swung her bokken at him, this time striking him in his side, forcing him to cough up more blood.

This continued until Motoko was out of breath and she looked down at him and was shocked by what she'd just done. She dropped her bokken and put her hands over her mouth in surprise as she fell to her knees.

She watched on in shock at Keitaro, who was lying in front of her motionless. She was suddenly struck with panic as she realized she just may have committed a murder and quickly tried to shake him awake, which wasn't working.

It started to rain as Motoko continued to erratically shake him into consciousness. She begged him to wake up as tears filled her eyes and finally ran down her cheeks, which was hard to tell in the rain.

She would've lost it completely if Keitaro hadn't stirred at that moment and slowly tried to get up but Motoko managed to turn him over on his back to face her.

When Keitaro saw it was her, he struggled his way to his feet, as did she, and said while in excruciating pain, "See, that's how tainted your honor is, Motoko."

She just looked down in shame as he said this and he finished as he walked away from her slowly back inside, "And I wasn't even armed. Where's the honor in that?"

He slowly went back inside and left Motoko on the roof, pondering her actions until she collapsed to her knees and cried.

**(000)**

Keitaro awoke the next morning with a slight headache. He groaned as he held his head and thought, _'What happened last night?' _He looked next to him and noticed quite a few sake bottles lying around and the picture of Kaede and Rika lying next to them and it suddenly hit him as he remembered…

_Last night… _

_Keitaro walked slowly to the fridge after nearly getting beat to death at the hands of Motoko. He was hoping she would finish him off but he also knew her honor wouldn't allow her to kill him, no matter how much he wanted her to. _

_He opened the fridge and pulled out a whole case of sake and he smiled as he said to himself, "Well, I guess alcohol poisoning will have to do for now, huh?" _

_He closed the fridge and made his way back to his room. Once there, he sat down at his desk and popped the top of the first bottle and took a swig from it. _

_While he drank, his mind drifted back to that hallucination during his fight with Motoko earlier. He saw Rika and she stopped him from killing Motoko. He wondered what that meant and what his life meant to him now._

_He just couldn't fathom why his life had turned out the way it had and he hated all of it! He hated the fact that the only two women he ever loved had died way before their time and left him all alone. He hated that his grandmother left him this stupid inn and didn't tell him it had been turned into an all girls dormitory. He couldn't care less anyway. None of it mattered. He didn't want the stupid inn anyway! He just wanted to be with Rika and Kaede again! _

_The more he pondered about it, the faster the sake went down his throat. He felt the tears in his eyes and he drank some more sake. _

_He hadn't noticed he'd already drank three bottles of sake and when he reached for another bottle, he fell over. He had knocked over his bag as he hit the floor and the picture of his deceased friends/lovers had slid out of the bag and stopped next to his face. _

_He slowly looked over in his drunken stupor and grabbed the picture and tried to stand up, which he proved difficult while drunk. Once he finally got to his feet he had grabbed the case of sake and stumbled his way to his futon. _

_For the next hour, he just sat on his futon with the picture in his hand and a different sake bottle every ten minutes in his other hand until the case was empty. With all the empty sake bottles strung about, Keitaro just sobbed as he held the picture limply in his hand while he had his knees up to his chest and his face buried in his arms. _

_When the sobs died down, Keitaro just lied down in his futon and let the inevitable blackout he was about to have take him._

_End flashback…_

Keitaro held back the tears and got ready for the day and headed down for breakfast.

**(000)**

In the kitchen, the ladies were already seated at the table and were waiting for their new manager to join them before they started. Not only were Naru and Motoko angry that Keitaro hadn't joined them yet, they, along with the other girls, were worried about today. Motoko's older sister, Tsuruko was coming by to see her. That was unsettling to all of them (with the exception of Suu).

They were just getting ready to start eating when Keitaro walked in and stopped when he noticed the girls looking at him and asked rather harshly, "What's your problem?"

He looked at Motoko and Naru and was met by their glares as Naru replied angrily, "It's about time you got down here, idiot! We were starting to think you were dead or something!"

Keitaro smirked as he sat down and said sarcastically, "Awww, was you worried about little ol' me? I'm flattered." Naru grinded her teeth and said barely containing her voice, "No, I'm saying that if you hadn't come down we would've eaten without you."

Keitaro replied with a bit of sarcasm, "Well, I'm glad you didn't, because you would've missed my opinion of you having to lose a little weight,"

The whole table went silent, except for Suu, who was still eating, and Naru's and Motoko's mouths and eyes were wide open and Mitsune was trying and failing to suppressed laughter threatening to escape her lips and Shinobu just blushed when Keitaro finished his witty and insulting comment with, "especially in your ass."

He motioned to Naru's ass and he leaned towards Mitsune, who was trying even harder not to laugh now, and he muttered to her with a sly smirk, "Oh, I was definitely looking." Kitsune couldn't take it anymore and finally let it all out and fell to the floor in a raging fit of laughter.

Both Motoko and Naru had had it with Keitaro and Naru jumped up and yelled at Keitaro, "HOW DARE YOU? I AM NOT FAT, YOU BASTARD! DIE!"

She was about to attack Keitaro when Motoko's bokken stopped her and Motoko said, "It is not wise to attack that pervert, Naru. Do you not remember what happened after the duel?"

Naru's eyes went wide as she remembered Motoko being injured at the hands of Keitaro and she sat back down.

Motoko also sat back down and Keitaro, who'd been eating while the pervert patrol had been talking, stood up with his now empty plate and walked into the kitchen sink and washed his plate and put it away. He went to the fridge and looked inside and remembered he drank all the sake and he growled as he closed the fridge and left the kitchen.

Mitsune was still panting from her outburst of laughter earlier and when she finally managed to control her breath, she went back to eating her meal.

Suu was already on her third plate since she'd been eating the entire time while not paying attention to anything around her.

Shinobu was finished and decided to clean up while the others finished their meals. Once everyone was done, she did the dishes and went to get ready for school.

Once the younger girls left for school and Naru left for Cram School, All that remained at the Inn were Mitsune, who didn't go to school anyway or have a job, Motoko, who decided to stay home and rest due to her injuries, and Keitaro, who could care less about his education now. He decided to clean up around the Inn.

At least it gave him something to do and not be bored to death.

**(000)**

Around noon Tsuruko Aoyama stood at the bottom of the steps that led to Hinata Inn. She was greeted by Haruka Urashima and Haruka said, "Hello, Tsuruko." The elder Aoyama replied, "Hello, Haruka-san. How are you this fine afternoon?"

Haruka, with the cigarette hanging from the corner of her lips, replied, "Could be better, could be worse, I guess. It's been pretty wild here since yesterday, when my nephew took over the Inn as manager. Naru and Motoko weren't happy in the least."

Tsuruko was surprised by Haruka's words. She didn't know Granny Hina Urashima left and made, who Tsuruko guessed Hina's grandson, manager.

Tsuruko asked, "How is my little sister? Is she behaving herself?"

**(000)**

Keitaro was finishing up with cleaning the floor when the phone rang. He carelessly walked to it and answered, "This better be good, because I'm busy. What do you want?"

Haruka replied stoically as usual, "Is something wrong, Keitaro?" Keitaro asked again annoyed, "What do you want, Haruka?"

Haruka scowled and said with a little venom, "I called to let you know Motoko's sister is here."

Keitaro didn't say anything for a moment until he asked, "Is that supposed to be a code for something, 'Motoko's sister is here?'"

Haruka slapped a palm to her head and sighed in annoyance and said bitterly, "No, you idiot. It means Motoko's older sister; Tsuruko Aoyama is here in the tea house."

He sighed and said, "You expecting me to give you a prize or act like I care or something? All she has to do is walk up the stairs and knock on the door. How hard is that?"

Haruka was starting to lose her patience, "I was just calling to let you know she was here. I was just being neighborly. What is your problem, Keitaro?"

Keitaro sighed and finally said softly, "Sorry, Haruka. I just had a rough morning. Thanks for calling, I guess."

Haruka faintly smiled and said, "No problem."

**(000)**

Motoko was limping down the stairs when she heard Keitaro on the phone and she listened. She gasped softly when Keitaro sarcastically said that Tsuruko was there and she immediately went back to her room.

Keitaro hung up the phone and sighed. He felt bad for the way he just treated his aunt Haruka. He knew that, no matter how much pain he felt in his heart, Haruka didn't deserve to be spoken to like that.

He decided to sit on the couch and wait for Tsuruko to knock at the door.

**(000)**

Tsuruko stood at the front door to Hinata Inn and knocked on the door. She had been told by Haruka that Motoko had been injured in a duel she had with her nephew, the current manager of the dorm, Keitaro.

All in all, Tsuruko couldn't wait to meet this Keitaro Urashima. Haruka hadn't told her, however, about Keitaro's past loves and how their deaths had affected him so greatly to the point of him taking the path of complete self-destruction.

She was about to find out just how self-destructive Keitaro really was when the door opened and Keitaro stood there, looking at her with eyes that were void of emotion.

Tsuruko looked at his aura and noticed the darkness and despair in his soul but she chose not to speak of it and instead bowed her head and introduced herself, "Greetings, Manager-san. I am Tsuruko Aoyama, Motoko's elder sister. May I come in?"

Keitaro put on as sincere a smile as he could and motioned for her to come inside.

Taking a seat on the couch, Tsuruko smiled at Keitaro and said, "Haruka has told me all about you, Manager-san."

Keitaro put a palm to his forehead and sighed and said, "Look, could you please cut it out with the 'Manager-san' crap? It's really starting to creep me out. Secondly, I apologize for being rash but if you want to see Motoko, she's up the stairs and to the right. I'm sorry, but I really have things to do, so enjoy your stay and all that."

He was already near the door to the springs before he was finished and disappeared through the door when he was.

Tsuruko was indeed stunned by the manager's rushed goodbye, but decided to head for her sister's room.

**(000)**

In her room, Motoko was waiting for her sister. There was a light knock at her door and she said softly, "Come in."

Tsuruko Aoyama slid the door open and Motoko said, "Hello, sister." Tsuruko smiled and walked toward Motoko and gave her a hug and she replied, "Greetings, little sister. Are things going well?"

Motoko was about to reply when she noticed Tsuruko was looking at her sternly. Tsuruko had noticed Motoko was holding her ribs and asked, "Were you recently in a fight, Motoko? You look injured."

Motoko froze at the question. She was trying to hide her injuries from her sister but she hadn't noticed she was sub-consciously holding her ribs.

She blushed and said softly, "I challenged Urashima to a duel. He was a worthy opponent." Tsuruko nodded with a smile.

**(000)**

Keitaro was just finishing cleaning the onsen. It had been a couple of hours since his encounter with the elder Aoyama sister. He blushed slightly when he thought about how beautiful she really was, _'just like Motoko.' _He blushed even more at that thought.

Truthfully, he had been thinking about Motoko and how attractive she really was, not that he was going to tell her that just yet, _'especially with her big sister here.' _

Just then, he heard the sound of a sword unsheathing and he turned around and ducked just before a blade barely passed over his head.

He looked up with surprised eyes at Tsuruko standing over him with her sword pointed at him and a determined look in her eyes.

She smirked and said in an evil menacing voice, "You fought and nearly killed my sister, Urashima-san. Now, we shall see if you can do the same to me."

He sighed and slowly pushed the blade away from his face and said sourly, "I'd rather not. I'm not some kind of samurai warrior, in spite of the evidence."

Tsuruko giggled and said, "You duel with my sister, give her internal injuries and are still standing after the fact and you say you are not a warrior? I will only know the truth after you fight me."

Keitaro clenched his teeth in anger and said angrily, "Look, I really don't care if you believe me or not. I'm still not going to fight you."

Tsuruko smiled widely and said, "Then, you die slowly." She unleashed one of her strongest family secret techniques and sent an unmoving Keitaro flying back towards the changing room through the wall.

Keitaro slowly got to his feet only to be sent flying again, this time into the living area. As he struggled to stand, Tsuruko, with her sword over her shoulder, walked slowly towards Keitaro and said, "Ready to fight now?"

He finally stood up and said while in pain, "No matter what you do to me, I will not fight you."

Tsuruko stopped and lowered her sword with an unreadable expression, "Really?" Just then, she pulled out a picture of two girls out of her kimono. Keitaro looked more closely and realized it was his picture and he shouted surprised and angry, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WITH THAT?"

Tsuruko smiled and held the picture over a lit candle and said, "I bet you would be devastated if something were to happen to this. Why do you care so much about this picture? "

Keitaro sighed. He knew he had no choice but to fight Tsuruko now. He had to agree to fight her to keep her from destroying the picture.

He reluctantly nodded and said bitterly, "Alright!"

Tsuruko gave him a confused look and asked, "Alright, what?" Keitaro looked up at her and said angrily, "Alright, I'll fight you. Just put that picture down!"

Tsuruko smiled and put the picture on the desk and walked towards the door with an angry Keitaro in toe.

**(000)**

Keitaro and Tsuruko stood on opposite sides of the grounds. They got into a battle stance and rushed each other. While Keitaro was a moderate opponent for Motoko, he was nowhere near a match for Tsuruko, as he figured out when he swung at her head and she effortlessly ducked and struck him in the abdomen.

Seeing her chance, Tsuruko unleashed a huge wave of ki hurdling toward Keitaro, who was still in pain.

Looking up, he noticed the wave coming at him and closed his eyes as it came closer. The impact felt like a ten ton wrecking ball hit him as he sailed toward the Hina inn wall, nearly knocking him through it.

He slowly stood up and came at her again. Dodging a series of swings and kicks easily, Tsuruko noticed something in his eyes as he attacked her, _'He's crying, and really is trying to fight me. Those girls in that picture must really mean a lot to him.' _

He took a swing at her abdomen, but she stepped aside and unleashed another ki attack that sent Keitaro flying into another part of the already dented wall of the Inn.

Tsuruko smiled when Keitaro didn't move and smiled even wider when Keitaro stood up and attacked her again. He swung to hit her in the head but Tsuruko blocked his bokken with her sword sheath. She took this opportunity to look in his eyes as they both stood their ground with their weapons still connected.

She saw his eyes were red from crying and full of anger. Then Tsuruko forced Keitaro back and swung at his head successfully. Keitaro was seeing stars and hit the ground, dropping his weapon in the process.

Tsuruko put a hardened look on her face and drew her sword and stood over Keitaro with the tip of her blade to his neck.

Worn out, Keitaro looked up at her and whispered with a lifeless look on his face, "What are you waiting for?" Tsuruko was surprised when he grabbed the blade and forced it to his own neck and asked again, louder, "What are you waiting for? Do it!"

Her faced softened and she sighed as she sheathed her sword and dropped down to his eye level and said softly, "Urashima-san, I know why you are doing this."

He looked up at her, still out of breath, as she continued, "You are doing this because you want me to kill you. you want me to end your pain. Haruka told me what happened to you. I know where you are because I have been there myself."

He looked at her questioningly as she continued, "My husband died from a fatal respiratory disease. He died in only a few short months and there was nothing I or anyone else could do. For a while, I went into a depression I could not escape from. I alienated myself from all of my family and friends and even wanted to commit seppuku if it meant I could be with him again, but I was wrong. It took me a long time to realize that my despair and sadness was hurting everyone around me, just like you."

Keitaro was listening intently until her last sentence and asked surprised, "What do you mean, 'like me?'"

She smiled and chuckled and said, "Have you not noticed that the other girls like you, especially the young Shinobu?"

Keitaro was at l loss for words. He knew Shinobu liked him, that was obvious, but the other girls? He tried to shake off the thoughts and asked angrily, "What's your point?"

Tsuruko sighed and said as she stood up, "My point is, you have a chance to be happy again. Don't waste it. Besides, what have you really got to lose at this point, hmm?"

She turned and went back into the dorms, leaving Keitaro thinking, _'I hate to admit it, but she does have a point. What do I have to lose anyway? Might as well start somewhere. I guess I'll start with Motoko.'_

With that, he stood up and walked back inside toward Motoko's room.

**(000)**

Motoko was meditating when she heard some knocks on her door.

She looked towards the door and replied, "Enter."

Keitaro slowly opened the door and stepped inside. Motoko gave him a glare until she noticed he had a picture in one of his hands and a bottle of sake in the other and he said, "We have to talk. May I sit down?"

She looked at him skeptically but nodded. He sat down across from her and said while handing her the picture and opening the sake bottle, "This really isn't easy for me to talk about so I'm drinking to make it easier."

He took a swig and continued, "The girls in that picture…" he said while pointing at it, "…were my best friends. They died five years ago…" He smiled bitterly, "…and in the same year too."

He laughed humorlessly as the tears started falling down his face. Motoko watched and listened as Keitaro bared his soul to her and she too could not stop her own tears from flowing as she listened.

He took another swig and said, "That picture was the last time they were together. They signed their names and gave it to me so I could always remember them."

Keitaro was doing all he could to hold himself together in front of Motoko, and was failing miserably. Motoko, too, was having trouble keeping herself together as she watched and listened to Keitaro.

He took a couple more swigs from the sake and continued, "Rika, the girl with short blue hair was diagnosed first…"

_Five years ago…_

_Rika, Kaede, their parents and Keitaro, who was sitting between the girls, were in the doctor's office and the doctor was looking over the test results for Rika's check-up and he looked at them and sighed. He said, "Ms. Ichiro, this is not easy for me to say. These results show that you have stage four leukemia. What surprises me more than anything is that you haven't shown any symptoms before now. Usually, leukemia patients show symptoms early on." _

_Mr. Ichiro, Rika's father, asked, "What can you do, Doc?" The doctor looked grimly at him and said, "There's nothing we can do at this point. Perhaps if we'd known sooner…"_

_The doctor's voice had drowned out as Keitaro sat in a trance after hearing the news and Rika and Kaede were crying on his shoulders…_

_Present Day…_

Motoko lost whatever will she had left and started to sob just as hard as Keitaro was now. The sakebottle was almost empty as the two sat in Keitaro's painful sadness.

After a while, they settled down and Keitaro finished his story, "Sorry about that. Anyway, she died a couple months later and soon after, Kaede got sick and was diagnosed with kidney cancer that spread to her lungs. She died two months later."

Motoko listened and tears continued to roll down her face every time she blinked. Keitaro continued, "I didn't see the point of living anymore after that. So I drowned myself in the bottle every chance I got and I even cut my own wrists at one time in a drunken state."

He showed Motoko his wrists and she gasped as she saw the scars. He continued, "I would've died too if it wasn't for my stupid immortality and my mom, who called an ambulance."

He sighed and looked at Motoko with a first genuine sad smile in five years and said, "I'm sorry for the way I've been acting lately and for the way I've been treating all of you. Your sister told me what happened to her husband…"

Motoko looked at him confused as he continued, "… and it took her story to help me realize what I've been doing to myself and my family these past five years."

Keitaro smiled brightly, causing Motoko to smile brightly too and he said, "It's about time I let go and move on." He stepped closer to Motoko and she blushed as he continued softly, "And in a way, I think I already am."

Motoko was very surprised and blushed furiously as she noticed he was mere centimeters away from their lips touching, which didn't happen as Keitaro stepped back and said with a blush and a smile, "Well, I…I guess…I should be…g…going now. I've got to get s…some work done and start studying for the Tokyo U exams again. Bye!"

As he turned quickly to leave, he ran into the wall, cracking it and said as he walked off holing his nose, "Ow."

Motoko on the other hand, blushed and smiled as she thought about what almost happened.

'_Things may get better yet,' _she thought.


End file.
